


And His Words Were as Knives

by The_SteamPug_Dude



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Gus-centric, Hurt/Comfort, Rated T for language and canon-typical violence, Whump, the main 'traumatic event' happens in the first few chapters, the rest of the fic will be focused on recovery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:55:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28457172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_SteamPug_Dude/pseuds/The_SteamPug_Dude
Summary: When Gus joins Hexside, he quickly makes friends, and they inspire him to found the HAS. However, a power struggle with Mattholomule leaves Gus cursed and without his friends. He then meets Willow and Luz, and they help him on the long path to recovery.
Relationships: Gus Porter & Perry Porter, Luz Noceda & Willow Park & Gus Porter, Mattholomule & Gus Porter, Willow Park & Gus Porter
Comments: 26
Kudos: 15





	1. In Which I Give Gus More Friends and Then Take Them Away

It was the first day of school. Gus walked into Hexside and looked around. It was so much bigger than his old school had been. As he looked around, he didn't see a single familiar face. At least the last time he'd moved up a grade he was still in the same school. Here, nothing was familiar. 

He looked down at his schedule. _First period - Illusion Visualization, room 203_. _Where's that?_ He set down his books and unfolded his map. _Ok, so if I'm here…_ After poring over the map for a few minutes to no avail, he looked up and saw the hallways were almost completely deserted. 

_ Oh no, it's almost class time! _ Giving up on the map, he started toward a nearby student to ask for help. Before he could, the bells screamed to mark the start of class.  _ Great, now I'm late on the first day too. As if this day couldn't get any worse. _

* * *

A few minutes later, Gus finally arrived at the right classroom. He quietly opened the door and slunk through it. 

"—Which is why visualization is so important to our magic." The teacher stopped her lecture and turned to him. "Ah, Augustus. It seems your name on my roster wasn't a mistake after all." Gus felt his face heat up as everyone in the room turned to look at him. 

"Since you're already standing up, perhaps you can help me with a demonstration. We were talking about how important it is to have a clear image in your head when you're making an illusion of something. Under this box," she gestured to a small box on the table behind her, "is an object that I doubt any of you have seen before. Augustus, you will have five seconds to look at it, and then you will have to make an illusion of it from memory. Then we will compare the two." She moved to the box and got ready to lift it. "When you're ready."

Gus set his stuff down, and stood in front of the box. An anxious feeling began to gather in his stomach.  _ It's okay Gus, you can do this. You're here  _ because _ you're good at illusions. You aren't going to embarrass yourself.  _ He took a deep breath, then nodded to the teacher. "I'm ready."

Any anxiety Gus had disappeared when the teacher revealed the object. It was a Swiss Army Knife, something he'd just been reading about that morning. Gus grinned with a new-found confidence as the teacher covered it back up. 

He spun around to face the class and triumphantly drew a spell circle. A perfect replica of the knife fell into his hand. 

"All right then, lets see how you did." The teacher held out a hand, and Gus handed over the illusion. She looked it over, and a hint of surprise showed on her face as she inspected it. "Very good! There are certainly a few inconsistencies, but this is surprisingly good for your first try. Please take a seat, and don't be late again."

Gus picked up his books and looked around the room for an empty seat. Near the back, a boy waved to him and motioned to an empty seat. Gus hurried over and sat down. As the teacher began to talk again, the boy leaned in and whispered to Gus. 

"Dude, I can't believe you impressed Ms. Petra! How'd you manage to do that with just five seconds?"

Gus leaned in to respond, although he tried to stay facing mostly forward so the teacher wouldn't catch him not paying attention. "The thing she used was a human tool I've been studying recently, so I already knew what it looked like." 

"Really? What's it do? Wait, why don't you tell me about it later? You can sit with me and my buddies at lunch."

Gus grinned. "Sure, I would love to!"

After a short pause, the kid leaned back in. "Oh, one last thing. What's your name?"

"My name's Augustus."

"My name's Rowan. Can I call you Gus?"

"Sure!" As Gus turned back to class, he was vibrating in excitement.  _ I just got a nickname! Maybe even a friend! _

* * *

~A Couple Weeks Later~

Gus walked into Hexside, humming happily. Life was good. He'd started to learn his way around the school, and his classes weren't especially hard either. He'd even skipped class using a double sometimes so he could hang out with his friends. His friends! That first day, he'd worried about making friends since he was so much younger than anyone else. After meeting Rowan though, all of those fears disappeared. 

That first day at lunch, Rowan had introduced Gus to his other friends, Newt and Tash. He told them what Gus did in class, and then they all listened to him talk about human stuff. And they were actually interested! They asked questions! Now they were hanging out at school pretty much every day. 

Looking up from his thoughts, Gus spotted his friends on the other side of the hallway. He ran up to them. "Hey guys!"

"Hey Gus!"

"Hey dude!" Rowan and Tash turned around and returned his greeting, while Newt gave a nod. 

"Did you guys do anything over the weekend?"

"Nah, nothing much." Rowan said. "How about you?"

"I got a new human magazine in! This one's all about stuff humans wear, and it's got tons of pictures too!" 

"Ooo, can I see?" Tash asked.

Gus checked his watch. "No, not enough time. It'll have to wait until lunch."

"Are you suuure? I'm sure Ms. Petra won't mind if you're just a  _ little _ late."

"Leave him alone, Tash. You can wait a bit," Newt chimed in. "Oh, and Gus — me and Rowan were talking, and we had an idea. What if you started a club where you tell everyone about humans? You've already got a bunch of cool human stuff, and it's really fun listening to you talk about them."

"Wait, that's something I can do? Just start a random club?"

"Yeah, if—" Newt started to speak.

"You mean like a human appreciation society?" Tash interrupted. "I know someone who went to one of those at his old school!"

"Shut up Tash," Rowan said lightheartedly, elbowing him. "Newt was talking."

" _ As _ I was saying, if you can get a room to hold it in and a few people who say they'll attend, Mr. Bump will probably approve your club."

"Oh boy oh boy! This is going to be awesome! Do you guys want to come help me set it up after school?"

"Sure!"

"Yeah!"

"Absolutely!"

* * *

"—and so sunscreen was invented, and humans could finally go outside without disintegrating." 

Gus finished his lecture and looked around the room. It was only the third meeting, but the HAS had already gotten quite popular. His friends had invited some of their friends to the first meeting, and it had only grown from there. In fact, they had almost outgrown their current room, which could be a problem if new members kept showing up.

"Any questions?"

Mattholomule, one of the new members, stood up. "Yes, I have a question. Why are you the one in charge?"

Gus looked at him quizzically. "Uhh, I was the founder?" 

"So what? Just because you started this club doesn't mean you're the best person to lead it." 

Tash jumped to his feet. "Hey, are you trying to say Gus is bad at his job? You've got a lot of nerve coming here and insulting him in the middle of his own club!" 

"And besides," Rowan spoke up, "It's not like anyone else even wants to be president, so does it even matter?"

"Actually,  _ I _ want to be president," Mattholomule retorted. 

"Well, what makes  _ you _ most qualified then?" Gus asked.

"I'm so glad you asked," Mattholomule replied. "I was the head of my old school's HAS, so I probably know more than you do about humans. Plus," he reached into his bag and pulled out a couple items. "I've got some human artifacts of my own." 

A murmur went through the room as a few members started whispering to each other about the sudden drama. 

"Well, if you think you're a better choice, and I think I'm a better choice, how do we choose?" Gus asked.

"Simple," Mattholomule said, "An election. You say why you would be better, and I say why I would be better, and then the members vote. It's fair, simple, and unbiased."

Gus crossed his arms and glared at him. "Alright then. Next meeting, we'll hold the election and settle this." 

Mattholomule smirked back at him. "I'm looking forward to it."

There was a moment of tension in the room as Gus and Mattholomule stared each other down. It was broken when the bell shrieked, signaling the end of club time. Everyone quickly packed up their stuff and left, and soon it was just Gus and his friends in the room. 

"Ugh, I can't believe this," Gus said. "Of course I'm the best person for the job! Now we're going to have to waste the next meeting on his stupid election. I was going to show them my paper clorp!"

Rowan slung an arm around Gus' shoulders. "Don't worry about it. You're so qualified, this won't even be close."

"Besides," Tash joined in, "you've got us, and there's no way we'll turn against you."

Newt nodded in agreement. 

"Thanks guys," Gus said. "I know you've got my back."

* * *

Light streamed in through the windows of the Porter residence. Mr. Porter sat at the kitchen table, sipping his apple blood and reading the morning paper. Gus walked in. He was dressed, but he still had bed-head. 

Mr. Porter looked up as Gus walked in. "Good morning, Gus." 

"Morning, dad." Gus yawned loudly and started to get himself breakfast. As he sat down to eat, his dad set his paper down.

"You got a package in sometime last night. I left it on the counter next to the door. It doesn't have a name or anything on it though. Did you order any human stuff?"

"I wasn't expecting anything." Gus walked over and picked up the package. It was a small box wrapped in plain brown paper. A note with his name on it was tied to the front. He took it off and opened it up. 

' _Here's a charm to give you good luck during the election. One small request, don't put it on until right before the election. ~A Secret Admirer.'_ He had a secret admirer? And they sent him a gift? Gus felt his face heat up slightly at the thought. Was it someone he knew? Did they have a crush on him?

"What's it say?" His father's question broke Gus out of his thoughts. He shoved the note in his pocket. 

"It says it's a good luck charm for the election today, but it, uh, it doesn't say who it's from," he stammered out. 

"Huh. Weird. Why don't you open it? Let's see what this good luck charm is!" 

Mr. Porter was clearly curious about the package, and had been waiting for Gus to open it. Gus was also curious, especially after the note. He ripped off the paper and opened the box. Inside, a black ring rested on a bed of red velvet. It glistened with a slight purple sheen in the light. Gus gasped, and his father let out an appreciative noise. 

"Are you sure you don't have any idea who sent you this? That's a really nice ring, it can't have been cheap."

Gus shook his head. "No, I can't think of anyone off the top of my head."

"Can I see?" Mr. Porter asked and held out his hand. Gus started to hand it over, then he caught sight of the time. 

"Oh man, I've got to head to school!" He closed up the box and started putting his stuff in his backpack. 

"Don't you usually head out later than this?"

"Yeah, but today's the election, so I wanted to head in early so I can practice my speech."

"Oh, that's today. Good luck then!"

Thanks dad!" Gus threw on his backpack and hugged him goodbye. "Love you dad, bye!"

"Have a good day at school!" Mr. Porter called after Gus as he went out the door. Then he picked back up his paper and continued reading.

* * *

The HAS meeting was about to start. Gus anxiously went over his speech one more time, going through the notes he'd written down on flashcards. He jumped as Tash slung an arm over his shoulder.

"Dude, are you really getting worried about this? There's no way Mattholomule's going to win. Heck, you could say just about anything and they would still choose you over him."

Gus took a deep breath and smiled. "Thanks Tash, you're right." He looked up at the clock. It was time for the meeting to begin. He put away his cards and sat down as Rowan went up to the front of the room and began to talk.

"Welcome to the HAS! As you all know, today we are holding an election to choose who will lead this club. I will be the moderator as our two candidates give our speeches, and then all members will cast their vote. Any questions?" He paused a moment, then continued. "Alright then. Gus, you first."

Gus reached into his pocket, where the ring lay, cool to the touch. He slid it on and then started to walk up to the front of the room. The moment he put it on, a curse hidden inside stirred to life. Unbeknownst to him, it poured into his body as he walked, taking control.

He started his speech, but his voice sounded weird; it was hollow and sounded like he was hearing it from a distance. He cleared his throat and started again. His voice still sounded the same, so he decided to just power through it and keep talking. 

Though he continued speaking, none of his words reached the others. As the words left his mouth, the curse replaced them. What the HAS members heard were words that hurt them on a personal level, striking at their fears and insecurities. The more Gus talked, the worse it got. The psychological onslaught began to bring some to tears. Others began to panic as the curse pointed out all of their flaws and problems. A final group began to boil with rage as the curse attacked them.

Gus was unaware of the curse's effect on his words, but he did notice the negative effect his words were making on the audience. He started tripping over some words as the tension in the room increased. He started talking faster, trying to get to his better points, but the increased pace only made it worse. A girl in the back burst out of her seat and launched a bolt of magic at Gus. He narrowly dodged out of the way.

"Shut up!" she shouted, a tinge of desperation in her voice. "How could you say something like that?"

"What do you mean? I didn't— I'm just giving my speech!" Gus was starting to panic. Everyone looked really unhappy, someone was shooting at him and accusing him, and he didn't even do anything! Was his speech really that bad? He jumped again as Rowan clapped a hand onto his shoulder. He spun around, and saw Rowan was absolutely furious.

"Gus, if you say one more word about my mother, I am going to actually kill you," he hissed.

Gus stumbled back, tears beginning to sting at his eyes. "But— I wasn't—" 

"Get him out of here!" someone shouted from the back of the room. Several students surged forward angrily, and Gus broke free and began to run away. 

He had no idea what was going on and no time to think about it. All he knew was that he needed to get out of there. He ran down the hall, tears streaming down his face. He heard shouts behind him as they followed him, and he started running faster.  _ Why are they following me? Are they trying to kill me or something?  _ A fireball flew past him, setting his sleeve on fire. He dove to the ground and rolled to put it out, then scrambled to his feet before they could catch up.  _ They're definitely trying to kill me! _

He quickly drew a spell circle, summoning a bunch of his duplicates. They scattered in all directions. Gus darted down a side hallway.  _ I need to get out of here right now!  _ He could feel his illusions disappearing one by one as his pursuers blasted them trying to find the real one.

He reached the end of the hallway, and it opened up into the main hall.  _ Almost there! _ Angry shouts signaled his pursuers beginning to catch up. He burst through the front doors with them hot on his heels. He was beginning to run out of breath, and he was getting a stitch in his side, but he kept running. Most of his energy was gone, and he was mainly running on adrenaline and fear.  _ Why won't they stop chasing me? _ He ran into the woods. Branches whipped across his face and legs, but he kept running. Finally, the sounds of his pursuers began to fade into the distance.

Relieved, he collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. His arm stung from the fireball, and his legs and feet hurt from running for so long. As the adrenaline faded, what had just happened sunk in. He began to cry. 

His body shook with sobs as he remembered the looks on everyone's faces. Rowan's face was especially vivid. He'd never seen Rowan that angry before. None of his other friends had done anything to help him either.  _ They probably aren't even my friends after this. _ That was a really painful thought. They'd helped him get used to Hexside, they'd helped him found the HAS, and now… now they probably hated him.

He cried until his tears ran dry. After that, he just laid in the dirt going over that day's events in his head again and again.  _ Where did I go wrong? Why would they do this to me? Can I even go back to Hexside now?  _

The forest began to slowly darken. He realized it was almost sunset.  _ I need to get home or my dad's going to worry.  _ He dragged himself to his feet, and started limping back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter we'll see the events from a different perspective. After that we'll go back to Gus, and he can start his recovery and making new friends


	2. Don't Trust People Who Hand Out Free Curses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mattholomule's perspective of the events

It was night in the Boiling Isles. Most of Bonesborough had already put out their lights and gone to bed. However, on the outskirts of the city, the Night Market had only just opened. The rows of stalls were lined with people making shady deals and exchanging money. In stark contrast to the raucous arguments of the daytime markets, the Night Market was eerily quiet, with most transactions done in whispers and gestures.

Matholomule walked quickly through the stalls, glancing around anxiously. He pulled his hood down to cover his face more. In addition to the danger he was in from the people around him, he would be in massive trouble if his parents found out he had come here. That was a risk he had to take though. There was no way he was going to win the election fairly, and his fake human artifacts weren't going to cut it. He needed something that would ensure his victory. The problem was, he had no idea what that would be. 

He stopped at several stalls, but most of them didn't have anything remotely useful. The few promising items he did find were ludicrously expensive. He was starting to get nervous. What if there wasn't anything that could help him? There was no way he was going to get any sort of power if he couldn't even win this. 

After a few more increasingly desperate minutes of searching, a stall caught his eye. A hand-painted sign hanging over it read  _ Enchantments for Every Occasion _ . In the stall sat a withered old lady. Various trinkets were piled up around her, spilling out of boxes and hanging from hooks on the walls. It was probably just another scam, but he went up to it anyways.

"What sort of enchantments do you have?"

"Read the sign, kid," she shot back in a raspy voice. "What is it you need?"

"I need something to help me win an election, but I'm not exactly the most popular candidate."

"Hmmm… a popularity contest, is it? Let me see…" 

She began rummaging around the stall. She pulled out trinket after trinket and examined them thoroughly. A few she held up to her ear as if to listen to them, others she held up to the light. After a few minutes of searching, she finally pulled out a small box and slid it across to him. He opened it up. Inside, a black ring sat on a bed of red velvet. It appeared to be carved out of some kind of stone, and had a slight purple sheen. He reached out to touch it, but she batted his hand away.

"This ring contains a curse," she said, staring at him with a solemn expression. "While your opponent wears this ring, even their most honeyed words will be as knives. They'll have no chance at victory."

Mattholomule hesitated a moment. "You don't mean the thing about knives literally, right?"

Her face stretched into a toothless grin. "No, no, not literally."

"I'll take it. How much?" 

"Oh, I don't sell these, I merely help them find a home. You can take it for free." 

"Well, I won't complain." Mattholomule snatched it up and hurried away. "Weird old hag," he muttered under his breath as he went.

* * *

Mattholomule sat in the HAS room smirking. The meeting was about to start, and everything was going according to plan. Gus was standing in a corner going over some flashcards, not that they were going to help. As long as he put on that ring, he would just stand up there spouting gibberish or whatever the curse did. Then Mattholomule could swoop in and deliver his speech, complete with the "human artifacts" he had made, and win the election in a landslide. Of course, Gus would probably figure out the ring was cursed and take it off at some point, but it would already be too late. 

Rowan stood up at the front of the room and explained the rules, then Gus came up. As Gus cleared his throat, Mattholomule spotted the ring on his hand.  _ Perfect. I've got this in the bag. _ Then Gus started to speak.

"You worthless jerk," Mattholomule sat bolt upright.  _ That doesn't sound like gibberish. _ "You'll never get anywhere. You tell yourself you want power and drama, but let's be honest, that's just because you know you'll never have friends." 

The words hit hard. They were familiar too, thoughts that had whispered in Matt's head some nights. Thoughts he'd tried to push away.  _ But how does he know any of that? _

"You won't ever get any power either. If you want to get power you have to be liked, and no one likes you. No one ever has. You're doomed—"

The tirade was paused as a girl on the other side of the room stood up and launched a blast at Gus. She said something, but Mattholomule didn't hear it over his own thoughts.  _ This has to be the curse. There's no way Gus would say something like that, no way he could know something like that. _

"—to die alone, unloved—"

_ But then what's everyone else hearing? _ He looked around the room. Some people were crying. Others were curled up on the floor or staring blankly into space. And some people looked ready to kill someone.  _ Oh no. This is not going to plan. _

"—and there's nothing you can do about it."

"Get him!" 

The tension in the room snapped and the angry people surged forward at Gus, who turned and ran out the door. They followed, and the room slowly went quiet as their shouts faded down the hall. Matt's stomach plummeted.  
_ Oh  _ **_Shit._ ** _ What did I just do? _

* * *

Mattholomule was sitting in a corner of the lunchroom. He picked at his food. It had been a few days since the election. He'd won by default, but that was pretty much the only thing that had gone right. The HAS had met again the next day, but less than half the members had actually attended. The mood was a lot different too. Maybe it was just how the last meeting had ended, but there just wasn't as much energy anymore.

Rowan and his friends walked into the lunchroom and took their usual seats. Normally Gus would be with them, laughing and joking around. He wasn't there today. He hadn't been in school since he got chased out of the election.  _ What if they killed him?  _ Mattholomule shook his head.  _ No, they wouldn't. Besides, I would've heard if he'd been killed. Right? _ Unbidden, the memory of the murderous rage on the students' faces sprung to his mind.  _ You know it's not uncommon for a kid to get killed by some stray demon. It would be sad for his family if that's what they thought happened, but it wouldn't be all over the news or anything.  _

He felt a chill go down his spine.  _ Did I kill Gus? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Matt's not evil, just a dumb jerk who made a mistake. A big mistake.


	3. Gus Gets a Hug

Gus was walking home in the dark. He was completely exhausted. The buses had all left long before he'd started home, so he'd had to walk. At this point, it was all he could do to put one foot in front of the other. Finally, he got to his house. He pushed open the door and staggered inside.

"Is that you Gus? I was getting really worried—" Mr. Porter gasped when he saw Gus. "Gus! Are you okay? What happened?"

Gus didn't reply, just flung his arms around his dad. Mr. Porter returned the hug. Wrapped safely in his father's arms, Gus sagged in relief. He was home. He started to cry again as the emotions from earlier surged back up.

"Hey, it's ok," Mr. Porter said soothingly. "I'm here now. You're safe." He gently rubbed Gus' back as he cried. After a few minutes, Gus calmed down and the tears began to slow. 

"What happened?" Mr. Porter asked again.

Gus took a shaky breath and began to explain. His voice still felt hollow like it had during the election. He only got a couple sentences in before his dad interrupted, heartbreak in his voice.

"What— But I— What did I do?" 

Gus froze. Memories from earlier flashed through his mind. The girl standing up and shooting at him. 'How could you say something like that?' Rowan spinning him around angrily. 'Gus, if you say one more word about my mother, I am going to actually kill you.' And now his dad, deeply hurt, but not because of what had happened to Gus. It didn't make sense. Why was this all happening? The words just didn't match up with what he was saying! _Wait. That's it. The words don't match up!_

He stepped back out of his dad's hug and quickly drew a spell circle, drawing illusory words in the air. 'Wait! Whatever you just heard, it wasn't me that said it!' 

"What do you mean?"

Gus drew another spell circle and the words changed. 'I think I've been cursed. It changes my words.'

Relief showed on Mr. Porter's face. "So what you just said- you don't actually hate me?"

Gus nodded and changed the words again. 'I'll never hate you.'

Mr. Porter stepped forward and hugged Gus again. "I love you, Gus." He stepped back. "Now, we need to get you to a healer right away. If they can get to the curse fast enough, they might be able to remove it before it fully sets in."

A flicker of hope stirred in Gus' chest. They could fix this. Things were going to be okay. He gathered up the last dregs of his energy, and then he and his father set out to the healer.

* * *

Mattholomule walked down the street, glaring down at the ground. He was headed to the residential area of Bonesborough, where Gus lived. _Ugh, why am I even doing this? Surely there's a better way to find out if I killed him than just showing up at his house. What am I even going to say? 'Hey, I cursed you the other day, and I just wanted to stop by and make sure you aren't dead?' Why do I—_ He collided with someone and stumbled back.

"Hey! Watch where you're—" He looked up and saw he'd just bumped into Mr. Porter. He bit back the rest of his sentence. _Alright, time to act the concerned classmate._ "Oh, hey Mr. Porter! I was just looking for you."

"Hello there."

Mr. Porter sounded exhausted. There were dark bags under his eyes, and it looked like he hadn't shaved recently. He was carrying something on his back. As he shifted his weight, Mattholomule realized it was Gus, fast asleep. He felt a weight lift off his chest. _He_ **_is_ ** _alive!_ Despite his relief, he put on a worried face. 

"Is he all right?" he asked, motioning to Gus.

Mr. Porter blinked blearily at him a couple times. "Who did you say you were again?"

"I'm uh… one of his classmates."

Mr. Porter sighed, and turned to the house next to him. "Let me put Gus inside real quick, and then we can talk." 

He unlocked the door and carried Gus inside. Mattholomule waited outside for a few minutes. He could leave now, since he knew Gus was fine. But was he really fine? He kicked at a stray pebble. Maybe he would just stay around a little bit longer and make sure. After what seemed like an eternity, Mr. Porter came back out.

"Sorry about that. Gus and I have been at the healer's for the last couple days, so we're both really tired. What was it you wanted?"

"Well, I'm in the HAS with Gus, and when he didn't come back after what happened, I thought that I— that he'd gotten hurt."

"You weren't wrong. Someone at that meeting cursed him, and then… We went to the healer as soon as he got home, but they— they couldn't—" His voice began to crack with grief, and Mattholomule could see a tear roll down his face. "They tried everything they could, but he's probably going to be cursed for the rest of his life."

Mattholomule looked away, uncomfortable at seeing him cry. He could feel guilt rising up in him again. 

"I'm sorry." _Wait, did I just say that out loud?_ _Quick, say something else so it doesn't sound suspicious!_ "I was the person running against him today. If it weren't for me, he probably wouldn't have been cursed. And, if I'm being honest, he deserved to win."

Mr. Porter sighed. "I appreciate the thought, but you don't have to blame yourself; you're not the one who cursed him. I'll pass along your apology though."

"Thanks. I have to go now, but I hope Gus gets better."

"Me too." Mr. Porter turned around and went back inside. "Me too."

Mattholomule walked away, hands stuffed in his pockets. He'd made sure Gus was alive, and even sort of apologized. Now he could just stop worrying and pretend this had never happened.

* * *

The morning sun shone through the windows of the Porter residence. Mr. Porter sat at the dining room table, sipping at his apple blood as he read through a book about curses. He looked up and frowned as Gus walked in, dressed and ready for school.

"Gus, you shouldn't be going to school today. You should be resting and recovering from what happened." 

Gus shook his head and conjured up illusory words. 'I want to explain what happened to my friends so they aren't mad at me anymore.'

"Well, I suppose I can't deny you that. If you are going today though, let me write up a note for your teachers so they know what's going on."

Gus nodded and then started to make his breakfast while Mr. Porter gathered up some writing supplies. There was an anxious feeling in Gus' stomach as he ate. He tried to push it down, but worries about the day kept popping up. He ignored them as best he could. The day _was_ going to go well. His friends _would_ forgive him. He had to believe that.

Mr. Porter finished writing the notes and handed them to Gus. Gus put away his dishes and went to get his school stuff. After a short and fruitless search, he realized he'd never brought them back from school. He stuffed the notes in his pockets instead. 

"Have a good day at school," Mr. Porter said.

Gus smiled and hugged his dad good-bye, then started out the door. 

"And good luck!"

Gus turned and waved, then closed the door behind him and set out for Hexside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was a nice break from the angst. Next chapter, not so much :( It will be longer though, so there's that. Also, I've got a couple free periods in school now so I think I'll have more writing time.


	4. Shattered Bonds and Budding Friendship

Gus walked through the crowded halls of Hexside, looking for his friends. Occasionally, students pointed at him and whispered to each other as he passed. He ducked his head and kept walking. His friends weren't in any of the places where they usually met up before school. He was about to give up and just go to his first class when someone put a hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw Rowan glaring down at him. 

"I see you finally came back. You've got some apologizing to do."

Gus gulped. Ignoring the anxious ache in his stomach, he drew a spell circle, and illusory words appeared between him and Rowan. 

'I can explain. I didn't actually say what you heard.'

Rowan's eyes flicked across the words, and then his face contorted with rage. 

"Excuse me? Are you trying to say I was just imagining things?"

His hands clenched into fists, and he moved closer to Gus. As he moved through the words, they puffed into wisps of smoke.

"Are you saying all of those insults you hurled at my  _ dead sister _ were just my imagination?" 

Gus backed up nervously. He quickly drew another circle, and the words formed between them again. 

'I was cursed! It changes my words into something else!'

Rowan swatted the words aside, barely pausing to read them. 

"I didn't ask for your bullshit excuses! I asked for you to fucking apologize!" 

He grabbed the front of Gus' shirt and slammed him up against the locker. Gus let out a whimper as part of the locker hit a sore spot on his back. A crowd was starting to gather around them. 

"What's with this fucking silent act anyways? Do you think I'm going to believe you just because you're keeping your mouth shut?"

Rowan was shouting right in Gus' face now. Gus could feel his heart pounding in his chest. There were tears running down his face. He tried to draw another circle, but Rowan slapped his hand down. 

"No more magic! I want to hear  _ you _ say it. Apologize!"

Gus started to struggle against Rowan's grip. As he did, the notes folded up in his pocket tapped against the locker. He frantically grabbed one out and shoved it in Rowan's face. Rowan flinched back, and Gus drew a spell circle. Glowing letters appeared, spelling out 'Proof' on the front of the folded paper.

Rowan reached up to grab the paper, then paused. The crowd around them had just parted, and through the gap walked the trouble-sniffers. Rowan went pale. He dropped Gus to the ground, but he was too late. A sniffer hooked him and yanked him away from Gus. As he was being dragged away, he shouted back at Gus.

"You don't want to talk? Fine then. Never talk to me again!"

Gus slid to the ground as the crowd dispersed. He took in deep breaths, but any comfort they brought was fleeting. There was no way Rowan would ever forgive him now.

* * *

First period was usually one of Gus' favorite classes, but today he couldn't pay attention at all. He was still jittery from what had happened with Rowan. He couldn't stop thinking about it. Rowan was usually pretty calm, but the curse had made him so angry. Gus shuddered. He couldn't even imagine what sort of things he could say to make Rowan that mad. Just how powerful  _ was _ this curse?

"Gus?"

He looked up. His teacher was standing in front of his desk. All the other seats were empty.

"The period's over. Don't you have another class you need to go to?"

Gus nodded and picked up his stuff. As he walked to his next class, he started thinking about how he would approach his other friends. Were they going to be as angry as Rowan was? Was there anything he even  _ could  _ do differently? The only thing that came to mind would be to show them one of the notes first, so it didn't sound like an excuse.

"That's him, over there!"

Gus turned to the shout. It was the girl who had first attacked him at the election. She was pointing right at him.  _ Oh no.  _ The person standing next to her, a purple haired witch with three eyes, started walking towards Gus. He turned and quickly started walking the other way. 

"Oh no you don't!"

There was a faint  _ fwoosh _ behind him, and Gus stopped as a fireball flew right in front of his face. He slowly turned around. The witch already had another fireball at the ready. 

"That's better. Now, I hear you decided to insult one of my friends. I'm going to need you to apologize. Otherwise—" 

She was cut off as a student bumped into her from behind. 

"Watch where you're— Oh, it's the half-a-witch. Don't you have classes you should be at? Or did you finally decide to quit?" 

"Ah! Sorry Boscha!" The girl who'd bumped into Boscha started to back away slowly. 

While Boscha was distracted, Gus took action. He drew a spell circle, turning himself invisible. Then he pressed against the lockers as one of his illusory doubles appeared and started running away down the hallway. 

"He's running away!" Boscha's friend cried out, and Boscha turned around.

"Get back here!"

They both ran after the double. As soon as they were past him, Gus dashed the other way, his invisibility dissipating as he ran.

* * *

The rest of the day dragged on. Gus was on edge. He jumped at any loud noises and kept looking over his shoulder, anxious there would be more people coming after him. Despite his worries, lunch arrived uneventfully. Since Newt and Tash weren't in the illusion track, lunch was his main chance to talk to them. Gus took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He took out one of the notes and went to their table. When he got close, Newt met his eyes and scowled.

"No. Go somewhere else."

A jolt of panic shot through Gus. He'd thought they would at least give him a chance to talk, not reject him outright. He quickly drew a circle and conjured up illusory words. 

'Wait! I can explain!'

"No, you can't!" Tash shouted. "You insulted all of us, and then you got Rowan put in detention!"

Gus quickly changed the words, then held the note out to them.

'Please, just read this!'

Newt drew a spell circle, and the note burst into flames. Gus snatched his hand back, and it fell to the ground, burnt to ash.

"Even if you came up with some explanation, it doesn't matter," Newt said. "Rowan hates you now. And if it's a choice between you and him, there is no choice." 

Gus stared at him, unable to process the words.  _ No. No no no this can't be happening. There has to be some way—  _

"Why are you still here? Go away!" shouted Tash.

Gus walked away from their table in a daze. 

He found an empty table and sat down. 

_ You have no friends now.  _

He opened his lunch and pulled out his pb&j. 

_ They hate you. _

He saw his friends— his former friends— laugh at something. 

_ Everyone hates you. _

He took a bite of his Pb&j and forced himself to chew. 

_ Everyone hates you.  _

A lump grew in his throat. He choked down the bite and then set down his sandwich, his eyes growing hot with tears. 

_ Everyone hates me. _

He buried his head in his arms as the tears started to flow. Why was this happening to him? He hadn't hurt anyone or done any harm, so why did he get cursed? Everything had been going so well, and now everything had gone wrong. 

"Are you okay?" someone asked gently.

Gus shook his head, not bothering to lift it from the table.

"What's wrong?"

He drew a spell circle, and words appeared on the table.

'Everyone hates me. I lost all my friends.'

"Oh… I'm so sorry to hear that." There was a moment of silence. "If you want, I could be your friend."

Gus looked up. Sitting next to him was the girl that had bumped into Boscha earlier. She had dark green hair and large round glasses. 

"You helped me out earlier with that cool illusion trick. If you hadn't, Boscha probably would've started bullying me. Besides, I don't have many friends either."

Gus smiled weakly, and he could feel the despair lift slightly from his mind. He drew another spell circle, and the words changed.

'Friends?'

He held out his hand. 

"Friends." She shook his hand. "My name's Willow!"

He changed the words with another spell. 'You can call me Gus!'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that should round up the Big Traumatic Event. From here on out, I'm going to try to make the angst a bit more spread out. Now, we're entering the healing part of the story. I think I've said that before, but it's actually true now, I promise.


	5. Trials and Tribulations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this took a lot longer than I thought it would. School has not been fun recently. On the bright side, this ended up being the longest chapter yet, so enjoy!

Gus set out for home as soon as school was over. Normally he would've hung out with his friends for a bit, but that wasn't exactly something he could do now. He wasn't really in the mood to hang out anyways. 

The walk home was a long one. The bus would've been faster, but it also had a lot of noisy people. Right now, Gus just wanted to be alone with his thoughts. He kept replaying the last conversation with his former friends. Was there anything he could've done differently? Anything that would've made them listen, made them understand? His thoughts ran fruitlessly in circles as he trudged down the path.

Eventually, he arrived at his house. It was dark and quiet inside; his dad was still at work. Gus set down his school stuff. Now he had to find some way to occupy himself for the next few hours before his dad came home. 

First, he did his homework. It was pretty easy and there wasn't very much of it, so it didn't occupy him for long. He flipped through his HAS notebook. Usually there would be some sort of research idea or theory that would catch his attention, but today the book only brought back memories of his former friends. He closed it up and shoved it in a drawer.

He'd already read all the books on his shelf, and he didn't feel like re-reading any of them. There weren't any good shows on his crystal ball. He tried to start practicing some new illusion spells, but he was too tired. 

Finally, he gave up and flopped onto his bed. As he laid there, his thoughts turned again to that conversation. Newt's last words echoed in his mind.  _ If it's a choice between you and him, there is no choice.  _

Did he really mean so little? He'd thought that they'd been good friends. They were certainly the best friends Gus had had in a while, until the election had happened.

_ Were they just pretending? _

Gus curled up, trying to get away from that painful thought. They wouldn't. They had no reason to. Right? 

_ Unless it was for Rowan. They never hung out with you unless Rowan was there too. Rowan's the one who introduced you to them. Maybe they were just going along with it. _

The thought tugged at his chest, and he could feel tears stinging the corner of his eyes. He sprung to his feet.  _ No. I'm not going to think about this anymore.  _ He pulled out his scroll and connected it to a speaker-toad sitting on his dresser. His comfort playlist started to play, replacing the silence that had been filling his room. 

Gus laid back down on his bed, closing his eyes as the music washed over him. The familiar tunes filled his head, and he slowly dozed off.

* * *

  
  


After a short but restful nap, Gus blinked awake. He stretched and checked the time. A few hours had passed, so his dad should be home. He got up, turning off his music as he left the room. 

As he walked into the living room, his nose caught a delicious smell, making his stomach rumble. His dad was sitting on the couch reading a book, and looked up when Gus came in.

"Ah, you're awake! Supper should be ready if you want to help me get it on the table."

Gus nodded, stifling a yawn. He set the table while his dad dished out soup for the two of them, and they sat down to eat. It was quiet. Usually, Gus would be talking about his day, or some interesting bit of research he had found. Today, there were only sounds of eating and silverware clinking. A couple times, Mr. Porter looked like he was about to say something, but each time he stopped and went back to eating. Gus finished his food and went back to his room.

He flopped down on his bed. There still wasn't much to do, so he cast a light spell and started to idly bat it around. He didn't have school tomorrow. Maybe he could go to the library and see if they had any new human magazines. He started thinking about what magazines he hoped would be there, but then there was a knock on his door. 

"Gus? May I come in?"

He sat up and cast a spell, and the door swung open. His dad walked in and sat down next to him on the bed. 

"So how did things go today at school? Were you able to talk to your friends?"

Gus shook his head. As he ran over the day's events in his head, trying to decide how to respond, all the sadness and hurt from earlier rushed back, and tears started to well up in his eyes. He drew a spell circle.

'They didn't believe me.'

The words hung in the air. It hurt to see them, a silent reminder of his pain. His dad's face fell as he read them, and he pulled Gus into a hug. 

"I'm so sorry. You don't deserve this."

Gus turned into the hug, away from the floating words. They held the hug for a few minutes. 

"You've been through a lot in the past few days, do you need me to take a day off of work so you aren't just alone tomorrow? We can catch up with each other and have some fun."

Gus thought for a moment. It was definitely tempting, but at the same time, he'd heard his dad complain before about how hard it was to get extra time off. He didn't want to be too much of a burden, and it wasn't like he couldn't find things to do on his own. He drew another spell circle and the words changed.

'I'll be fine.'

His dad looked doubtful. Before he could protest, Gus added on another sentence.

'Besides, I made a new friend yesterday, so maybe I can hang out with her.'

Mr. Porter sighed. "Alright then. Just remember I love you."

He gave Gus one last squeeze, then got up to leave the room. Right before he went out the door, he turned around.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you earlier, but one of your classmates came by yesterday to check on you. He seemed to think you had gotten cursed because of the election, and apologized for running against you. I told him I would pass on what he said."

He closed the door. Gus tried to process this new information. Someone had come to check on him. But it hadn't been one of his friends, one of the people he'd trusted. It had been Mattholomule, the jerk who had started all of this.

Anger swelled up in him. His friends hadn't even listened to his explanation, but Mattholomule came to his house and checked on how he was doing? Maybe they really had never liked him! How selfish did they have to be, if they did less than some jerk? 

Or maybe it was Mattholomule's fault. Maybe he was up to some other scheme, and was only pretending to apologize. That had to be it. There was no way he could have been telling the truth. 

_Maybe he's the one that cursed me._ _Then he only came to check on me because he wanted to make sure it had worked._ Gus rolled that thought around in his head for a bit. He hadn't really thought about who had cursed him before. He couldn't really see anyone wanting to curse him, but if he were to choose someone… it would definitely be Mattholomule.

_ Next time I see him, I'll confront him about it. Then I'll see from there. _

* * *

It was the middle of the night. A soft blanket of silence lay over the house, except for Gus' room. Gus was shifting restlessly under his covers, whimpering quietly in his sleep. In his head, he was curled up on the ground, shadowy figures looming over him. They were whispering sinisterly, the same phrases repeated over and over.

"You aren't worth anything."

"Why would anyone want you as a friend?"

"Between you and him, there is no choice."

Suddenly, they disappeared. Gus was all alone. He could feel a vast expanse stretching out all around him, devoid of all life. He tried to move, but his limbs wouldn't respond. He tried to cry out, but no words left his lips. 

After what felt like hours in that void, Gus finally woke up. He was curled up in the middle of his bed, and all his blankets were on the floor. He checked his clock. It was earlier than he would usually get up, but there was no way he was going back to sleep. 

He slowly got ready. As he grew more awake, the details of the dream grew hazy, but the feeling of solitude still lingered in his chest. His dad had already gone to work, so he was alone in the house. He'd planned on going to the library, but he didn't feel like it anymore. He just wanted to hang out with his friends again.  _ Wait, Willow has the day off too, maybe she'll want to hang out!  _ He pulled out his scroll and sent Willow a message.

**G** **us:** Are you doing anything today?

After a short wait, her response popped up.

**Willow:** My friend and I were planning to go to the school grudgby game, did you want to come?

Gus smiled and tapped out his reply. 

**Gus:** Sure, I'll meet you at the school!

Suddenly, his day was looking a lot better. Gus hummed a peppy tune as he dug through his closet for his spirit wear and flags. The loneliness of the dream was forgotten, driven away by excitement for the game. He'd only watched grudgby in his crystal ball before, so he couldn't wait to see an in-person game, especially since he was going with his new friend.

He headed out the door in high spirits, and started out for the school. There was a bounce in his step as he walked, and he practiced a few moves with his flags.

By the time he arrived at the school, there was already a decent sized crowd of people waiting for the dragon boat to leave. Willow was easy to pick out, as she stood alone, slightly apart from the crowd.

Gus waved to her, and she looked up and waved back. As he went up to her, a few people side-eyed him and moved a little farther away from them. 

"Hey Gus! You excited for the game?"

Gus nodded enthusiastically. He looked around, but he didn't see anyone else that looked like they were with Willow. He cast a spell circle and conjured up some words. 'So, is your friend here yet?'

"She should be," Willow said, slightly worried. "I hope she doesn't miss the flight."

As if on cue, an unfamiliar voice called out. "Hey Willow! You ready for us to crush those Glandus nerds?"

A girl ran up to them, someone Gus hadn't seen around the school before. 

"You bet I am! Luz, this is Gus, my new friend. Gus, this is Luz, the one and only human on the Boiling Isles."

Willow gestured dramatically towards Luz, who turned her head to show off her round ears. Gus' jaw dropped, and he suppressed a gasp.  _ An actual human! This is so cool!  _ Flicking his ears in excitement, he quickly summoned up more words. 

'Where are your gills? Can you really spit acid? How did you get here?'

Luz grinned and started rattling off answers. "No gills, no acid, and there was this little owl—"

Gus held up a hand to stop her, and changed the words. 

'Let grab my human notebook real quick, I need to write this down!'

Not waiting for a reply, he rushed inside the school. He ran to the illusion wing and rapped on his locker to get it to open up. It stuck out its tongue with his books, but his human notebook wasn't there. After a frantic search, he found it under the locker's tongue. Grabbing it, he dashed back to the entrance. He burst out the front doors. 

No-one was there. In the sky, he could see the dragon boat flying away. His stomach dropped.  _ They left without me.  _ He didn't have any way to go to the game on his own, since his dad was at work. It looked like he would be spending the day alone after all. He started walking down the front steps to head home when he heard a faint voice coming from inside the school. He paused and listened a moment. The voice got louder, and he realized it was two voices: Willow and Luz calling his name!

He went inside, and saw them walking down the hall, peeking into classrooms as they went, and calling out for him. Willow looked over and saw him. 

"There he is!"

They ran over to him. He smiled, the heavy feeling in his stomach going away. They hadn't actually left without him! 

"Come on," Luz said, dashing past him to the door, "the dragon boat's going to leave any time now!"

Gus shook his head and drew a spell circle, conjuring up illusory words.

'Too late.'

At the same time, Luz let out a disappointed shout from the entrance. As she came back in, Gus cast another spell and changed the words. 

'Thanks for coming to look for me.'

"No problem," Willow replied. "I wouldn't want to leave one of my friends behind!"

"So how are we going to get to the game now? Can we walk there?" Luz asked.

"No, it's too far," Willow said. "I'd ask my parents to give us a ride on their staff, but they're working. What about your parents, Gus?"

Gus shook his head. 

"Wait, I know where we can get a staff! Come with me!" And with that, Luz started marching off into the woods. Gus and Willow looked at each other, shrugged, and followed. As they walked, Luz turned around.

"By the way Gus, how come you use those floaty letter things instead of speaking? I mean, it at least looks like you have a mouth, unlike some people I've seen here."

Gus looked down and frowned. Should he tell them? Or would the curse drive them off? After a short internal battle, he conjured up a single phrase. 

'I don't want to talk about it.'

"Oh." Luz looked a little guilty, then seemed to realize something. "Oh! That was rude of me! I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking! Crap, it's not even like we don't have people who don't talk back on Earth, and— and… you know what? I'm going to stop talking."

She turned back around and started walking faster, her cheeks flushing slightly. The rest of the walk passed in awkward silence. 

Thankfully, it wasn't long before they arrived at the edge of the woods. A house stood alone among some ruins, with no other signs of civilization in sight. It was kind of weird that Luz lived all the way out here. Gus didn't know many people willing to live outside of a town, especially considering the dangers that lurked in the wilderness. He added that to his mental list of things he wanted to ask her about.

"Wait here, I'll be right back!" Luz said, and ran off to the house. 

* * *

One magic staff, five trees, and a spectacular crash later, it was beginning to look like they might not be making it to the game on time. Gus climbed out of the bush he'd fallen in and brushed himself off. Thankfully, he wasn't too hurt, just a few scratches. It looked like he'd landed in some small clearing. Willow popped out of a large patch of grass nearby. The only person missing was Luz. Suddenly there was a large crashing noise from above, and Gus and Willow jumped as Luz slammed to the ground between them. Willow rushed forward, but Luz popped up before she got to her.

"I'm fine!" she looked around. "Hey, where's Owlbert?"

They all started looking for him. After a short search, Willow found the staff at the edge of the clearing, but the palisman was missing. 

"There he is!"

Luz pointed deeper into the woods, and Gus saw the palisman limping away, a deep crack visible on its head. Luz ran after it, and Gus and Willow ran after her. They crashed haphazardly through the underbrush and deeper into the woods. The air grew colder as they went, and the plants began to grow less colorful, less friendly. Finally, they chased Owlbert into a cave.

Luz slowed down as they went deeper in, and they walked closer together. It was eerily quiet in the cave. Something crunched under Gus' foot, and they all jumped slightly. He looked down and saw he'd just stepped on a bone. That wasn't a good sign. Neither were all of the other bones lying around. He reached forward and tugged lightly on Willow's arm. She looked back and paled at the sight of the bones.

"Uh, Luz?"

"Yeah?" 

"I think we should probably turn back."

"Not yet, we have to get Owlbert," Luz replied, peering into the shadows. 

There was a flash of movement from further on in the cave.

"Owlbert? Is that you?" 

Luz leaned in, trying to get a better look. Gus moved closer behind Willow. Three little bat-things edged forward into the light.

"Luz, I don't think that's Owlbert," Willow whispered.

"Wait, I recognize them! You're the Bat Queen's kids!"

Gus really hoped she wasn't talking about  _ the  _ Bat Queen, one of the richest and scariest figures on the Boiling Isles. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of anyone else she could be talking about. He started to slowly back away from the bat-things, and Willow followed suit. Luz crouched down and started to talk to the things.

"We're looking for the palisman that goes on this staff. His name's Owlbert, and he looks like an owl. Do you know where he is?"

They didn't respond, but they did start to screech. It was a horrible noise that echoed throughout the cave and grated on his ears. He  _ really _ did not like where this was going. He started to draw a spell circle to tell Luz to run, but tripped in mid-cast and fell into a large mass of webs. Willow bent down to try and help him get out. 

"Owlbert, there you are!" Luz called out. "I'm so glad you're okay! Come on, let's go home."

Willow and Gus both looked up and saw Owlbert standing near the back of the cave. Just then, loud footsteps shook the ground. A massive bat-thing stepped out of the shadows and in front of Owlbert. Willow gasped, and Gus redoubled his efforts to break free. That was definitely the Bat Queen, and they were definitely screwed. 

Luz, however, seemed unperturbed. In fact, she was carrying on a conversation with the Bat Queen like they knew each other. How did a  _ human _ know the  _ Bat Queen _ ? 

"—So we'll just be taking Owlbert, and we'll be right on our way." 

Luz laughed nervously and stepped toward the palisman. The Bat Queen held up a claw and stopped her. 

"To be careless with a staff is very serious." She glared down at Luz. "I protect him."

"And thank you for that, but he belongs to Eda the Owl Lady, and he needs to go home now."

"No. Owl Lady is careless. Her staff left her sight, taken by human who steals, hurts, frightens. It told me all!" 

"Owlbert, I never meant to hurt you," Luz said. "Please, trust me."

The Bat Queen's eyes and Owlbert's eyes lit up, and they seemed to be communicating. Then, the Bat Queen flew to a crag at the back of the cave. 

"Trust must be earned—" she spread her wings, "—through trials!"

Three fiery geysers burst from the ground around her. Gus finally got free from the webs. He brushed himself off and pulled out his flags. If the trials were anything like in grudgby, things were about to get exciting. As long as they didn't die, of course. While he did that, Willow stepped up next to Luz. 

"Luz, everyone knows the Bat Queen gives impossible challenges. I don't think I've heard of anyone who's won against her."

"It's my fault Owlbert got hurt." Luz struck a determined pose. "I'm going to get him back."

"Then we're helping you." 

Willow looked back to Gus, and he nodded in agreement. He couldn't wait to see what cool stuff humans could do in a fight, even if they didn't have acid spit.

"No helpsies." 

The Bat Queen made a grabbing motion with one of her claws, and webs shot up from the floor and wrapped around Gus and Willow.

"Now, let the trials begin!"

The first trial was for Luz to milk a spider-demon. It was fun at first to watch her chase it around the room, but it was pretty clear that she wasn't going to catch it anytime soon. If she did have any awesome human features, they didn't seem to be much help in this trial. Maybe there was some way he could help. Willow was occasionally shouting advice at Luz, but that wasn't something he could do. He would use his magic, but he was trapped.

Gus started to wiggle around. If he could just get his hands free, he could start getting the webs off. After a few minutes of intense maneuvering, Luz gave a triumphant shout from behind him, and the first fire went out. He twisted his head and saw she had managed to trap the spider-demon in a corner of the cave to milk it.

The next trial was for Luz to clear out a beehive. It seemed like something Luz could do until the beehive turned into a huge bee-demon and started chasing her around. Gus watched her carefully, hoping to see if she had any human abilities that would be useful in combat, like super-fast running or extra-high jumps, but all she did was bat at it with Eda's staff. He made a mental note to ask her more about human anatomy later, and went back to his escape attempt. 

Eventually, he was able to get his hands free. He quickly used his flags to rip the rest of the webs off of him. As the last of the webs fell to the ground, he performed a dramatic flourish with his flags. Unfortunately, that drew the Bat Queen's attention. She cast another spell, and more webs dropped down from the ceiling, suspending him in mid-air. On the bright side, he had an excellent view when Luz tricked the bee-demon into flying into a wall, knocking it out. 

The third trial was for Luz to give the Bat Queen's babies a bath. She seemed to have this one mostly under control, but Gus continued his escape attempt. He didn't have much else to do, since baby bath time wasn't very entertaining to watch. Besides, the webs were starting to itch. After some deft flagwork, he burst out and fell to the floor. He bounced painfully off a large rock, which sent him rolling across the floor. When the world stopped spinning, he realized he had rolled right up to the feet of the Bat Queen. She glared down at him. He smiled nervously up at her. Her nostrils flared, as if picking up some scent.

"I smell evil on you," she said menacingly.

She leaned in closer to him, sniffing at the air. Then her eyes widened.

"Anathema!" she screeched. Her voice was shrill with rage, though it also contained a hint of fear.

She dove at Gus, and he narrowly rolled out of the way. As she turned to swoop back at him, he scrambled to his feet. Luz looked up from washing the babies.

"Gus! What's going on?"

He drew a spell circle, then dove to the side as the Bat Queen rushed him again. The word 'HELP' appeared in large bold letters in mid-air as he started to run away from her.

"Luz, help me get free!" Willow called out. 

Luz ripped the webs off of her, then turned to Owlbert. 

"Owlbert, I'm so sorry I hurt you! I understand if you don't trust me, but Gus needs our help!"

Owlbert looked at Luz, then at Gus, who was desperately running away from the Bat Queen. He seemed to come to a decision, and flew up to his place on the staff.

The Bat Queen was gaining on Gus. He dodged through narrow paths between webs and debris, but she just smashed through them. He looked back to see how close she was, and tripped over a bone. He slammed to the ground. The Bat Queen screeched again, stretching out her claws towards Gus. 

Suddenly, a vine burst from the ground, wrapping around her and stopping her, claws inches from his face. She flapped wildly, trying to get free. He looked behind her and saw Willow, her eyes shining a bright green. She seemed to be spending a massive amount of effort trying to hold the Bat Queen back.

"Why are you doing this?" Luz called out. "Gus did nothing to you!"

"One of the Anathema is in him," she screeched back, still thrashing around. "I must destroy, annihilate, extinguish, or it will bring doom!"

"Well, we aren't going to let you!" Willow shouted.

She gave one last surge of power, and the vine flung the Bat Queen away from Gus. Luz jumped on Owlbert and patted the side of the staff.

"Come on, we need to get out of here!"

Willow climbed on behind her, and Owlbert shot forward. As they flew past Gus, Willow reached down and grabbed his hand. She pulled him up onto the back of the staff, and they sped out of the cave. Behind them, the Bat Queen screeched in rage. 

Luz steered Owlbert up above the trees, and they arrived back at the owl house in no time. As they alighted on the grass, everyone was still breathing hard from the sudden burst of action. Gus drew a spell circle, and illusory words appeared in the air.

'Thanks for helping me out back there!'

"No problem! That's just what friends do," Luz said.

Gus drew another spell circle and changed the words.

'We're friends?'

"Of course! Any friend of Willow's is a friend of mine!"

Gus felt his face spread into a grin. He hadn't been expecting to come out of today with a new friend, much less a human. The happy feeling didn't last very long though.

"Gus, do you know what the Bat Queen was talking about back there?" Willow asked. "From what I've heard, she's not the type to attack people randomly."

He frowned, and thought back to the Bat Queen's words. She had said something about evil in him. There was only one thing she could be talking about. He was reluctant to tell them about the curse though. What if they thought he was lying, like his other friends had? He thought for a moment, then came to a decision. He would just leave out the details, and hope they didn't press him for more. He took a breath, and then changed the words.

'I'm cursed. She must have realized that and attacked me.'

"But that doesn't make sense," Willow replied. "Aren't most curses just a little bit of bad luck or some warts? Why would she attack you for that?"

"Not all of them," Luz said. "Eda's got a pretty bad curse. It almost made her kill me and King." 

That wasn't a good sign. If Luz had already had one bad experience with a curse, maybe she wouldn't trust him as much. He had to change the subject. He looked around and saw an old lady walking up the path towards the house. He drew another spell circle.

The words 'Who's that?' appeared in the air, with a large arrow pointing at the lady.

Luz turned to look, then grinned at Gus.

"How would you like to meet the most powerful witch in the Boiling Isles?"

* * *

That night, Gus lay in bed trying to sleep. It'd been cool to meet Eda, even if she was an outlaw. He wished he could've asked about her curse, but then they might've asked about his. He knew he was going to have to tell Luz and Willow sometime, but he was scared of how they might react. For now, he just wanted to have fun with them. Maybe he would tell them next week. 

With that decided, Gus was finally able to calm his mind and fall asleep. For a time, the house was quiet. 

Then the first nightmare came.


End file.
